Slicker Than Your Average
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''Slicker Than Your Average'' is the second studio album by British singer
Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is an English singer. He rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, to great commercial success. In to ...
, released on 19 November 2002 by
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
. It peaked at number 4 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, number 5 on the Australian
ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
, and number 32 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200. It was certified Gold by
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
in the U.S. and double Platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
in the United Kingdom. As of November 2013, the album has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide. The album was released in a number of different versions. The original release contained 13 new tracks. A six-track bonus remix CD was released in Asia that featured
remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
es of the singles " Rise and Fall" and "
Hidden Agenda Hidden Agenda or Hidden Agendas may refer to: Video games * ''Hidden Agenda'' (1988 video game), a 1988 text-based game * ''Hidden Agenda'' (2017 video game), a thriller video game developed by Supermassive Games for the PlayStation 4 Film * ...
", as well as versions of "
Fill Me In "Fill Me In" is the debut solo single of British singer Craig David. It was released on 3 April 2000 as the lead single from his debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'' (2000). The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 9 April 20 ...
" and the
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
"Four Times a Lady" from the single, "
What's Your Flava? "What's Your Flava?" is a song by British singer Craig David. It was released on 28 October 2002 as the first single from his second studio album, '' Slicker Than Your Average'' (2002). It peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart. Despite ...
".


Background and writing

After David managed to crack the American music industry with his hit debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'', his musical style began to alter to appeal to the worldwide market on his second studio album. In an interview with ANDPOP's Adam Gonshor, David revealed the inspiration for some of the songs on the album. He was forced to stay in a hotel room for a week following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in
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in 2001, and it was this event that inspired him to write the song " World Filled with Love". In the interview, he said, "I was thinking, I'm actually in this world that's filled with madness, with this drama that's going on. Some of the things we were talking about in music, in the big picture, are so trivial...I thought music is a form of escapism, so I used it to write a song hopefully for positive means to say, we are in a world that's filled with love." David also commented that the album title could be looked at in two different ways: "On the one hand, it's coming across like I'm arrogant. On the other hand, it's saying I have a lot more composure on the album." The album was leaked onto the internet prior to its official release, but David was not too bothered as he felt that it "spreads the word".


Critical reception

''Slicker Than Your Average'' received mixed to positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 62 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...
's Keysha Davis wrote that "''Slicker Than Your Average'' provides the listener with the opportunity to get into the mind of a truly gifted young star...there are enough club friendly tracks to ensure heavy rotation in the hottest nightspots". However, in reference to his success in the United States, she also pointed out "true fans may be a tad bit disappointed by the new super-slick musical direction".
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's Christina Fuoco gave it a rating of three stars out of five and wrote "''Slicker Than Your Average'' is stronger than the average sophomore effort...it proves that Craig David's abilities are innate". Pat Blashill, writing for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine, called it "one of the most subtle male R&B records in a good while" and gave it a 3/5 rating. ''
Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...
'' magazine's gave the album a rating of 4/5 and commented "David moves away from underground two-step...toward a modern, mainstream R&B record. Slicker is full of
Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...
-style production, booty-call ballads and even Spanish guitars. Sometimes being real means revealing the marshmallow within." Ken Tucker, writing for ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'', gave the album a B− and wrote "David has a voice that's fresh and expressive, so it doesn't bode well that on what's only his second album, he's also an artist already reduced to singing about the burdens of fame." ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' Alexis Petridis wrote "His second album has its flaws, but they are largely generic: when it tries to fit too snugly into the R&B template, it tails off. At its best, however, it is a curiously unique record."


Track listing


Bonus tracks


Other releases

Asian limited edition – bonus remix CD # "What's Your Flava?" (Todd's underground flava vocal remix) # "Hidden Agenda" (Blacksmith rerub featuring Know ?uestion) # "Hidden Agenda" (Soulshock remix) # "Four Times a Lady" # "Rise & Fall" (Blacksmith hiphop rub featuring Fallacy) # "Fill Me In" (acoustic recorded in Seoul) DVD # "Fill Me In" (music video) # "7 Days" (music video) # "Walking Away" (music video) # "Rendezvous" (music video) # "What's Your Flava" (music video) # "Hidden Agenda" (music video) # "Rise & Fall" (music video) Notes * signifies remix and additional
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...
. Sample credits *"Personal" contains an interpolation of "T Shirt and Panties" by
Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. Known for his work in both the screen and music industries, his accolades include an Academy Award, a Grammy Award ...
. *"Hidden Agenda" contains an interpolation of " Don't Talk" by Jon B.


Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes. *
Peter Biker Peter Biker (born 10 May 1961) is a Danish record producer and songwriter. He is also a musician drummer and keyboard player. He has produced or written for many local Danish and international acts. He was on the judging panels of shows like '' ...
– remix and additional producer (track 6) *Messiah Bolical – vocals (track 5) *Thomas Burbree – mixing (track 5), Pro Tools and post production (tracks 1-3, 5, 8) *
Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is an English singer. He rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, to great commercial success. In to ...
– vocals (all tracks), producer (track 13) *Kevin "KD" Davis – mixing (track 12) *
Steve Fitzmaurice Stephen Fitzmaurice is an Irish mixer and producer based in London, England. His credits include albums for Depeche Mode, Seal, Sam Smith, Ian Brown, Kylie Minogue, Mónica Naranjo, Sting, Paloma Faith, Olly Murs, The Kooks, Alicia Keys, U2, ...
– mixing (tracks 4, 13) *Marc Francs – mixing (track 3) * Rob Haggett – 2nd assistant engineer (tracks 6, 9) *Trevor "Trell" Henry – producer (tracks 1-3, 5, 8), mixing (tracks 1-3, 8), rap (track 1) * Mark Hill – producer (tracks 4, 6, 9, 12) *Katie Holmes – additional vocals (track 12) *
Kenneth Karlin Kenneth Karlin or just Karlin (born September 18, 1966) is a Danish songwriter and producer who is best known for his work with Carsten Schack, better known as Soulshock, forming the Los Angeles-based producer duo Soulshock & Karlin. They have wo ...
– producer and arranger (tracks 7, 10) *Darryl Lavictoire – mixing (tracks 3, 8), mix engineer (tracks 1, 2) *
Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...
– mixing (tracks 7, 10) *Anthony Marshall – producer (tracks 1-3, 5, 8, 11), mixing (tracks 1-3, 8, 11) *Duke One – vocals (track 11) *Onyxstone – Garage MCing (track 5) *
Fraser T Smith Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith (born 8 February 1971), known professionally as Fraser T. Smith, is an English record producer, songwriter and musician. Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison's " ...
– producer (track 13) *
Soulshock Carsten Schack (born 1968 in Gug, Denmark) and better known by his stage name Soulshock is a Danish record producer and songwriter. Beginnings Carsten Schack was born in the Aalborg suburb of Gug, the son of economics professor Bent Schack and p ...
– producer, arranger, and mixing (tracks 7, 10), remix and additional production (track 6) *
Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...
– mixing (tracks 6, 9) *
Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...
– vocals (track 7) *David Treahearn – assistant mixing (tracks 6, 9) *Paul "P-Dub" Walton – Pro Tools (tracks 6, 9)


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{Authority control 2002 albums Atlantic Records albums Craig David albums